Methods and apparatus for generating a video clip

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter relates to methods of generating a clip from a video displayed on a screen, comprising: storing a set of videos in a database of a server, each video containing a sequence of pictures; capturing an image of the screen displaying one of the videos of said set, with a capturing device; transmitting the image, or a fingerprint derived from the image, from the capturing device to the server; in the server, matching the image or fingerprint with at least one of the pictures of one of the videos in the database to determine a matching video and a timestamp of a matching picture in the matching video; and extracting a clip from the matching video, the clip having a length shorter than that of said video and having a start and a stop time in a given relation to said timestamp. The disclosed subject matter further relates to a server and a capturing device to be used in said methods.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of generating a clip from a video displayed on a screen, comprising:
 storing a set of videos in a database of a server, each video containing a sequence of pictures;   capturing an image of the screen displaying one of the videos of said set, with a capturing device;   transmitting the image, or a fingerprint derived from the image, from the capturing device to the server;   in the server, matching the image or fingerprint with at least one of the pictures of one of the videos in the database to determine a matching video and a timestamp of a matching picture in the matching video; and   extracting a clip from the matching video, the clip having a length shorter than that of said video and having a start and a stop time in a given relation to said timestamp.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the screen is a television set, the video is broadcast to the television set and the server, and the step of storing comprises recording the broadcast video in the database. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the screen is a computer, the video is a webcast to the computer, and the step of storing comprises providing the webcast video in the database. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the capturing device is electronically connected to the screen for electronically capturing the image. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the capturing device is a smartphone with a camera which is directed at the screen for optically capturing the image. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of extracting comprises sending the extracted clip from the server to a remote device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the remote device is another server. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the remote device is the capturing device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of extracting the clip comprises sending a playlist of uniform resource identifiers (URIs), each URI addressing a different one of subsequent groups of pictures (GOPs) within said clip, from the server to a remote device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of extracting the clip comprises playing the clip on a screen of the remote device by subsequently retrieving said GOPs from the database via the URIs of said playlist. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the given relation is a time window delimited by said start and stop times and into which said timestamp falls. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of extracting the clip comprises, before sending said playlist:
 sending a subset of pictures, which are in different time relationship to said timestamp, together with times of said pictures within the clip, from the server to a remote device; and   displaying the subset of pictures on a screen of the remote device and selecting the times of two of the pictures of said subset as the start and stop times of the clip.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of extracting the clip comprises, before sending said playlist:
 sending a subset of pictures, which are in different time relationship to said timestamp, together with times of said pictures, from the server to the remote device;   displaying the subset of pictures on a screen of the remote device and selecting the times of two of the pictures of said subset as the start and stop times of the clip.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of extracting the clip comprises, before sending said playlist:
 sending a subset of pictures, which are in different time relationship to said timestamp, together with times of said pictures, from the server to the remote device;   displaying the subset of pictures on a screen of the remote device and selecting the times of two of the pictures of said subset as the start and stop times of the clip;   wherein the subset comprises one picture of each GOP.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a time of capturing or transmitting the image is recorded and used for narrowing the matching of the image or fingerprint with the pictures of the videos. 
     
     
         16 . A method of generating a clip from a video displayed on a screen, comprising:
 storing a set of videos in a database of a server, each video containing a sequence of pictures;   capturing an image of the screen displaying one of the videos from said set, with a capturing device;   transmitting the image, or a fingerprint derived from the image, from the capturing device to the server;   in the server, matching the image or fingerprint with pictures of the videos in the database to determine a set of matching pictures and a set of timestamps of the matching pictures;   displaying the matching pictures on a screen of the capturing device and selecting one of the matching pictures; and   extracting a clip from that video which contains the selected matching picture, the clip having a length shorter than that of said video and having a start and a stop time in a given relation to the timestamp of the selected matching picture.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the step of extracting the clip comprises
 sending a playlist of uniform resource identifiers (URIs), each URI addressing a different one of subsequent groups of pictures (GOPs) within said clip, from the server to the capturing device; and   playing the clip on a screen of the capturing device by subsequently retrieving said GOPs from the database via the URIs of said playlist.   
     
     
         18 . A server, configured to
 store a set of videos in a database, each video containing a sequence of pictures,   receive an image, or a fingerprint derived from the image, from a capturing device, the image having been captured from a screen displaying one of the videos from said set,   match the image or fingerprint with at least one of the pictures of one of the videos in the database to determine a matching video and a timestamp of said matching picture in the matching video, and   extract a clip from the matching video, the clip having a length shorter than that of said video and having a start and a stop time in a given relation to said timestamp.   
     
     
         19 . The server of  claim 18 , further configured to, when extracting the clip,
 send a playlist of uniform resource identifiers (URIs), each URI addressing a different one of subsequent groups of pictures (GOPs) within said clip, from the server to a remote device.   
     
     
         20 . A capturing device for generating a clip from a video displayed on a screen, comprising:
 a communication interface for communicating with a server which stores a set of videos in a database, each video containing a sequence of pictures;   the capturing device being configured to   capture an image of the screen displaying one of the videos from said set,   transmit the image, or a fingerprint derived from the image, to the server, and   receive a clip from the server, the clip having been extracted from the video by matching the image or fingerprint with at least one of the pictures of one of the videos in the database to determine a matching video and a timestamp of said matching picture in the matching video, the clip having a length shorter than that of said video and having a start and a stop time in a given relation to said timestamp.   
     
     
         21 . The capturing device according to  claim 20 , further configured to, for receiving the clip, first receive a playlist of uniform resource identifiers (URIs), each URI addressing a different one of subsequent groups of pictures (GOPs) within said clip, from the server, and then play the clip on a screen of the capturing device by subsequently retrieving said GOPs via the URIs of said playlist. 
     
     
         22 . The capturing device of  claim 21 , wherein the capturing device is a smartphone with a camera configured to optically capture the image.